Friday, February 15, 2013

Preordering Nikon D7100

I'm excited to hear more news about the D7100. NikonRumors reports that Nikon has a press conference next week for several countries (see NR post here). I am not completely surprised that Nikon is moving fast, because it reported a decrease in expected earnings and its stock took a serious beating (down ~20% in one day).

I'm also excited to read that Nikon will be focusing on DX. If what NR says is true about new DX lenses, then just maybe Nikon might produce a stabilized 50-135 2.8 DX lens (70-200 equivalent) in a compact size. That would be my dream lens. (Or at least one dream lens.) Yes Sigma does have the 50-150 2.8 OS but it's the same size as a 70-200, so I don't think it's practical for me. And the Nikon 70-200 f/4 is only a little shorter than a 70-200 and it's one stop slower. That's why I've kept my Sigma 50-150 non-OS. But I digress....

Getting back to the topic, I tried to preorder the D7100 through the same store where I preordered and ultimately bought my D600, Bel-Air Camera. There's good news and bad news. The good news is that they are indeed accepting preorders for the D7100 / D400. That's an improvement from the time I preordered the D600 where I had to talk to different people and cajole someone into accepting a preorder for the D600. Some reader even called their store after I placed a preorder and the sales rep called me a liar for claiming that I preordered the D600. No such hassle this time.

The bad news is that they will only take preorders at their store -- no phone orders. Not even if I'm an existing customer. It's a security measure to prevent credit card fraud. Sigh. Well, I guess I will be trekking to their store.